BA unveils Indie Book Award 2026 Children's and Picture Book shortlists

The Booksellers Association (BA) has unveiled the shortlisted titles for this year’s Indie Book Awards, judged by and given on behalf of independent bookshops.

With a judging panel of independent booksellers deciding the four category winners, to be announced on Thursday 18th June during Independent Bookshop Week, the Indie Book Awards aims to celebrate and exemplify the “historic, close and mutually beneficial relationship between authors and illustrators, and bookshops, and their unrivalled combined power to put the best books into the hands and minds of as many readers as possible”.

Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the BA, commented: “At the Booksellers Association, we are continually inspired by the affinity between authors and illustrators, and independent booksellers, working together to match exceptional books with the readers who will love them most. It is a unique partnership and one that sits at the heart of everything we do.

“It is therefore always a delight to reveal the shortlist for the Indie Book Awards, giving us the opportunity to celebrate that partnership on a national stage and shine a light on some of the most compelling books of the summer. Against the backdrop of the National Year of Reading, this work takes on added resonance, reflecting a shared commitment to embedding reading for pleasure within everyday culture and ensuring independent bookshops remain central to how readers discover, share and fall in love with books.”

Judging the children’s categories are Dan Fridd (Bookbugs and Dragon Tales), Elaine Sinclair (Daydreams Bookshop), Alison Brumwell (The Little Bookshop, Leeds), Sanchita Basu De Sarkar (The Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill) and McKenna Adare (O’Mahony’s).